THE PLA NAVY UPGRADES IT’S SHIP REPAIR INFRASTRUCTURE

Rear Admiral Monty Khanna (Retd) – ‘Dabolim Diaries’ Issue No 31 dated 02 Nov 2026

The PLA Navy has been significantly increasing the number of assets in its inventory as also the size of them. As a consequence, the maintenance load of the service is steadily rising. In the past, a substantial part of this load was taken on by Private/State Owned Enterprise (SOE) shipyards, particularly those in which such vessels were built. This has been particularly true for the larger assets such as aircraft carriers (refits undertaken in Dalian) and LPDs (refits undertaken at Hudong Zhonghua in Shanghai). Such an approach is now beginning to change as the PLA Navy ramps up its integral repair infrastructure. This is most evident in major bases where the augmentation of such facilities is progressing rapidly.  This brief documents and analyses the creation and use of repair facilities at the four major bases of the PLAN, these being Yuchi (Qingdao), Zhoushan, Zhanjiang and Yulin (Sanya).

Yuchi Naval Base (Qingdao), Northern Theatre Navy

This is the primary base of the NTN and home to a large number of vessels including the aircraft carrier Liaoning and possibly the Fujian. The repair infrastructure that existed at the base initially comprised of two dry docks, one 220 x 35 m (Drydock 1) and the other, a smaller 150 x 22 m (Drydock 2) as well as a small repair wharf (Fig 1). The presence of only one crane to service both the drydocks till 2015 and the relatively low utilisation of both the docks (as observed on google maps) is indicative of this being a fairly austere repair facility in its early years.

Fig 1: Layout of Repair Facilities at Yuchi Naval Base (Image dated 2003)

In 2014/15, the naval dockyard in Yuchi received a boost through the addition of an ‘L’ shaped 20 m wide ship repair wharf with a berthing length of 945 m provisioned with five cranes (Fig 2). Other facilities at the yard were simultaneously augmented. These include expansion of the covered area for workshops and an increase in the number of cranes to service the drydocks.

Fig 2: Layout of Augmented Repair Facilities at Yuchi Naval Base (Image dated 2024)

We are currently witnessing yet another round of expansion of repair facilities at this base through the creation of a new large drydock of dimensions 320 x 50 m (Fig 3). This is expected to be able to dock any of the PLA Navy’s assets including aircraft carriers. The alignment of the new drydock will preclude the exploitation of the smaller existing dock (Drydock No 2) which may be reclaimed and the land repurposed.

Fig 3: Image Showing New Drydock Under Construction

Zhoushan Naval Base, Eastern Theatre Navy

This is the primary base of the Eastern Theatre Navy. While there has been significant augmentation of the berthing facilities at this base, improvements to the ship repair infrastructure have been modest. The broad layout of the base is as shown in Fig 4.

Fig 4: Image Depicting Broad Layout of Zhoushan Naval Base

A July 2022 image of the repair yard (Fig 5) shows its overall layout as on that date.

Fig 5: Layout of Repair Facilities at Zhoushan Naval Base (Image dated July 2022)

The yard has a slipway with a hard with a ship transfer system. The slipway is used to lower/raise vessels to the level of the floating drydock which has a of length 88 m (Fig 6). Ships are moved to/from the floating drydock to the hard in a cradle.

Fig 6: Slipway with Hard Serviced by Floating Drydock

The yard also has two drydocks of dimensions 158 x 20 m and 200 x 30 m (Fig 7). The occupancy rate of both remains reasonably high.

Fig 7: Drydocks at Zhoushan Naval Base

In addition, there are two repair wharfs for undertaking repairs in the afloat condition. One is 120 m long and is serviced by one crane (Fig 8).

Fig 8: Repair Wharf 1 at Zhoushan Naval Base

The other repair wharf has a length of 258 m and is serviced by two cranes. It has a dolphin at its southern end to support the berthing of larger vessels (Fig 9).

Fig 9: Repair Wharf 2 at Zhoushan Naval Base

Between 2023 and 2024, a third repair wharf was constructed at the yard east of the other facilities. It has a length of 280 m and is serviced by two cranes (Fig 10). This has significantly enhanced the repair capabilities of the yard.

Fig 10: 2023 and 2025 Images of Repair Wharf 3 at Zhoushan Naval Base

The mid-life refit and modernisation of all the four Sovremenny Class destroyers was undertaken at this facility.

Zhanjiang Naval Base, Southern Theatre Navy

The refit facilities at Zhanjiang Naval Base are located on the western side of the harbour. The broad layout of the base is depicted in Fig 11.

Fig 11: Broad Layout of PLA Navy Infrastructure at Zhanjiang Naval Base

The overall layout of the Zhanjiang repair yard is depicted in Fig 12.

Fig 12: Layout of Repair Facilities at Zhanjiang Refit Yard

The yard has a ship lift with a length of 140 m that is supported by a ship transfer system with a large hard that can support the placement of several vessels (Fig 13).

Fig 13: Shiplift at Ship Transfer Hard at Zhanjiang Repair Yard

The facility has seen limited use over the last few years. An image dated 07 Feb 2026 shows the ship transfer rails at the western end removed which is indicative of some redevelopment activity (Fig 14).

Fig 14: Redevelopment Activity at Zhanjiang Repair Yard

The facility has two drydocks. Drydock 1 is 262 m long and 33 m wide. It was built over three decades ago. A second drydock (Drydock 2) 175 m long and 45 m wide was built between 2020 and 2022. This is the most used drydock at the repair facility, often docking two large vessels side by side (Fig 15).

Fig 15: Drydocks at Zhanjiang Repair Yard

Yulin Naval Base, Southern Theatre Navy

The broad layout of repair facilities at Yulin Naval Base is given in Fig 16.

Fig 16: Repair Facilities at Yulin Naval Base

With the substantial increase in ships being based in Yulin (including aircraft carriers), the PLA Navy has felt the need to upgrade repair facilities at this location. This augmentation has been done in phases.

• Phase I. This involved the creation of a new docking complex with two drydocks. The smaller of these is 215 m long and 35 m wide while the larger is 375 m long and 80 m wide (Fig 17). Work on these was completed in 2022.

Fig 17: New Drydock Complex at Yulin Naval Base

• Phase 2. Work on a new repair wharf commenced in early 2023 and completed in December 2025. The wharf has a length of 945 m and is fitted with two rail mounted portal cranes (Fig 18).

Fig 18: New Repair Wharf at Yulin Naval Base

Both the drydocks in the new facility have been extensively used since their completion. The large drydock undertook the first drydocking of an aircraft carrier (Shandong) in end Dec 2025/early Jan 2026 (Fig 19). As of Sep 2026, the Shandong continued to be in the drydock with extensive work underway.

Fig 19: Shandong Docked at Yulin Repair Yard

Assessment

The number of vessels operated by the PLA Navy has grown significantly in the past decade. This has resulted in a substantial increase in berthing and maintenance requirements to support the fleet. The PLAN continues to build new wharfs in most of their bases even while the existing ones are not fully occupied. This signifies that the PLA Navy will continue to build new vessels faster than they decommission the older ones over the next few years.

Insofar as maintenance is concerned, while the PLA Navy has had integral facilities to refit ships, these had been relatively modest till 2020. As a consequence, a substantial part of the refit load was met by either private or State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) shipyards.  This approach has now begun to change with major infrastructure projects for repairs either having been completed or in an advanced state of execution. This is most evident in the two major bases; Yulin and Yuchi. Once these facilities are fully operational, it would free up capacities in the SOE and private yards which could thereafter focus on their core competency, that being the construction of new vessels. All these developments signify that China will continue investing into its Navy grow its size in the coming years.